F2PMeter: Is World of Warships Truly Free to Play?

In World of Warships players captain their own WW2 battleships in intense strategic team based battles, with multiple nations to choose from and historically accurate vessels to unlock and upgrade, players can enjoy the tactical naval battles for free. However, we’re going to put World of Warships through our F2PMeter, starting out at 100% free we’ll ask a series of questions and find out just how free it really is!

Does the game require an initial purchase?

'No'

World of Warships is completely free to download and play.

Does the game require a paid subscription?

'No (but...)' takes away 5%

Whilst the game has no mandatory subscription, there is an optional sub for buying a Premium Account which provides extra credits and XP after battles as well as a number of other small perks; subs have different timescales with their overall price being cheaper the longer a player subscribes for.

Does the game require spending money on DLC packs or expansions?

'No'

There aren’t any expansions or DLC available.

Does the game support micro-transactions? Can anything be purchased in-game using real world money?

'Yes' takes away 5%

Players can spend real cash on Doubloons premium currency to spend in game as an alternate to the normal currency earned through playing, alternatively players can purchase Premium Ships with money directly.

Do any of the micro-transactions give players an advantages?

'Yes (but...)' takes away 10%

Doubloons give advantage in the form of saving time, levelling up to get the next tech and unlock new ships can take quite a while and be relatively costly, as can outfitting your ships with various consumables and mods. The bigger advantage comes in the form of Premium Ships, which are top spec ships for their tier, whilst not game breaking they do provide a distinct advantage in the right hands.

Is the user interface customization restricted to paid options?

'No'

There aren’t any options to customize the UI.

Does the game give access to all available ships?

'No' takes away 15%

There are cash only Premium Ships that cannot be earned through playing the game.

Does the game require have limitations to how the Market system is accessed?

'No'

The game lacks any market/auction style trade system.

Are personal port slots limited at all?

'Yes' takes away 10%

Players begin with a number of ports, allowing them to own multiple ships, but further ports must be purchased as microtransactions, as well as earning a free slot if you become a Premium Account member.

Are all zones accessible without purchases?

'Yes'

There are no limitations to the game modes or maps.

Does the game restrict high endgame content?

'No'

Gameplay remains the same throughout; upper Tier battles are available to anyone with an appropriately tiered ship.

Can the game be fully enjoyed without ever having to spend a ‘penny’?

'Yes' adds 10%

The only major issue with being free to play is the potential grind getting new ships, particularly when reaching the upper tiers, and it becomes an extremely slow process to do so without the credits and XP boost that comes from the Premium Account. However, for players that just enjoy the gameplay and aren’t too bothered about always getting into new ships, then the game is enjoyable enough.

2 Comments - "F2PMeter: Is World of Warships Truly Free to Play?"

Pay to win poop, buy pay to win stuff and one shot everyone, same story in world of tank

Old Tanker17/02/2016 at 17:01 -

What? What kind of pay to win stuff in that game allows to one shot everyone? Or in WoT?

Premium tanks or ships are in most cases a little worse that normal tanks or ships,

There are a few models in WoT that were badly balanced and are OP but in most cases access to them was limited (to special events) or totally closed.

And in WoWS so far all premium ships are at best average comparing with normal.

Also WoWS has no gold ammo like WoT, so it is in that case much better for f2p. Altogether paying and non paying player can have in WoWS same fun, specially in lower tiers. In higher costs of repair can be problem if you have no premium ship, but it can be solved by keeping some tier V-VI ships which make nice income. It works similar in WoT